This year, 13 Sleepy Eye FFA members applied for State FFA Degrees. The State FFA Degree is the second highest degree attainable in FFA, behind the American FFA Degree.

To receive a State FFA Degree, the following qualifications must be met. Having a Chapter FFA Degree, being an active FFA member, completing at least 2 years of agricultural classroom instruction, having earned and invested at least $2,000 or worked 300 hours through an SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience), as well as completing at least 25 hours of community service.

The members who applied for the State FFA Degree included: Jose Castorena, Noah Christensen, Nora Coulson, Kayla Hecht, Anna Johnson, Lily Kallevig, Izzy Kunkel, Lucia Martinez Paredes, James Moore, Rachel Portner, Noemi Rodriguez, Caleb Suess.

Agricultural Proficiency Awards honor FFA members who, through SAE, have developed specialized skills that they can apply toward their future careers.

Seven Sleepy Eye FFA Members competed in the Region VI FFA Proficiency Interviews on Tuesday, Feb.11. Pictured left to right – Rachel Portner (Region Winner), Jasmine Petermann (Region Winner), Noah Rossbach, Camryn Maher, Logan Ludewig (Region Winner), Davin Suess, and Taylor Berkner (Region Winner).

Nationally, students can compete for awards in nearly 50 areas ranging from agricultural communications to wildlife management. Proficiency awards are also recognized at local and state levels and provide recognition to members that are exploring and becoming established in agricultural career pathways.

Seven Sleepy Eye members completed Proficiency Applications. The Region VI results were:

Logan Ludewig – 1st place in Ag. Mechanics Repair & Maintenance

Taylor Berkner – 1st in Vegetable Production Entrepreneurship

Rachel Portner – 1st place in Dairy Production Placement

Thirteen FFA members from Sleepy Eye were interviewed for their State FFA Degrees on Tuesday, Feb. 11. Pictured left to right: Front - Lucia Martinez Paredes, Rachel Portner, Lily Kallevig, Nora Coulson, Anna Johnson, Noemi Rodriguez, Kayla Hecht. Back – Noah Christensen, Caleb Suess, James Moore, Jose Castorena, Izzy Kunkel.

Noah Rossbach – 2nd place in Dairy Production Placement

Jasmine Petermann – 1st place in Diversified Ag. Production Placement

Davin Suess – 2nd place in Diversified Ag. Production Placement

Camryn Maher – 3rd place in Agricultural Education

The Proficiency Applications will now go to the state level and the State Proficiency Judging will take place in March.

Region VI Officer Interviews were also held. Becoming a Region Officer helps FFA members be more active in FFA beyond the chapter level. Serving on an elite team of FFA Members simulates working with others in a professional work environment.

Carter Lazatin and Charlie Hoffmann served as the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter voting delegates for the Region Officer Interviews. They voted on the 2025-26 Region VI Officer Slate: Lucia Martinez Paredes was selected as the Reporter and Alex Confer was elected Student Advisor.

FFA helps teach specialized skills in hundreds of agriculture career areas

The FFA members will receive their State FFA Degrees at the State FFA Convention in April at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.